


Home

by SkyFireForever



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, Home, Immortal Leon (Merlin), Love, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25595077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFireForever/pseuds/SkyFireForever
Summary: The knights all had their own histories and pasts. They all carried their own baggage with them. But when they were together, they were home.
Relationships: Elyan/Percival (Merlin), Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Lancelot/Merlin (Merlin), Lancelot/Percival (Merlin), Leon/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 31





	1. Sir Lancelot

Sir Lancelot was the most honorable man of them all. So many had claimed this, but Lancelot wasn’t sure if he believed them. He didn’t find himself to be very honorable. Loyal, yes. Faithful and dutiful, certainly. But honorable? No, he’d committed far too many errors in his time to truly consider himself to be so. 

When he’d first arrived in Camelot, he had allowed Merlin to talk him into identity fraud. He was a liar and a scammer, neither of which felt very honorable to him. He had sat back and watched while his family and friends were slaughtered by bandits, had hid when he could have stood up and fought beside them. An honourable man never would have turned tail and ran the way he had. Sure, he had vowed to never make the same mistake again, had sworn to himself that he would forever fight for what was right, but that didn’t fix the mistakes he had made on that day. 

Lancelot wasn’t the most honorable man. He wasn’t even close. Still, he accepted the compliments thrown at him with grace, not wanting anyone to know exactly what kind of a coward he truly was. The only people who knew were Percival and Merlin. Strong, kind, and gentle Percival. Percival, who he trusted with his life and soul. And Merlin. Sweet, silly, oblivious Merlin. Merlin, whose secret Lancelot would protect with his dying breath. 

Words could not express how Lancelot felt about the two men. Percival was his friend and more when he’d had no one. When he had been completely alone, Percival had been by his side. Percival had reminded him of what true strength was and he didn’t mean physically. Percival was one of the bravest, kindest, most warm-hearted men Lancelot had ever known. He taught Lancelot that it wasn’t selfish to look after one’s own interests so long as they did not infringe on others. He taught Lancelot just how beautiful the world could be. And one night, under a starry sky, he had taught Lancelot how to make love. 

And then there was Merlin, Lancelot’s dearest friend. Merlin was willing to sacrifice anything for Lancelot and Lancelot would gladly do the same. There was no one quite like Merlin. No one who could sass the prince and somehow befriend him all the same. No one who smiled that goofy smile quite like he did. No one who trusted Lancelot with as much as he did. Merlin’s secret was like a gift to Lancelot, something he could protect and guard with his life. It proved that Lancelot was worthy of  _ something,  _ even if he wasn’t exactly sure what it meant apart from that. Merlin meant a great deal to Lancelot, not that the warlock even noticed how the knight stared after him. Lancelot knew he wasn’t the only one. He saw how Gwaine and Arthur looked at him too. 

And when Lancelot was officially knighted, he was permitted to spend the rest of his days with Merlin and Percival both. He fought alongside Percival, sneaking kisses in hidden alcoves or sharing tender moments whilst sharing a bedroll. He fought to protect and defend Merlin, saving him on more than one occasion from a deadly foe. It was where he was meant to be. 

Of course, it wasn’t just Percival and Lancelot that he gained by becoming a knight. There was Guinevere too. Beautiful, sweet, caring Guinevere. The most beautiful woman in all the lands. She was as kind as she was beautiful and was just as much a natural ruler as Arthur. She would make a great queen one day. The thought caused Lancelot’s heart to strain in his chest and on more than one occasion had brought a tear to his eye. Guinevere deserved better than Lancelot. She deserved a truly honorable man. 

But Lancelot gained friends as well. He gained Gwaine, the loyal and brave man who was always ready with a charming grin and a joke or two. He gained Elyan, the prickly but kind man who always had his back. He gained Leon, the most loyal to his prince of them all. They were like a family, stronger than any bond that Lancelot had ever had before. 

He would always be with them, always protect them. He had gained a home in becoming a knight and he would fight to protect that home until his dying day. 


	2. Sir Elyan

Sir Elyan wasn’t the most well known of the knights of the round table and he wasn’t the most liked. He couldn’t name a soul whose favorite knight was him. He kept to himself more than most of the other knights. Sure, he was just as brave and loyal as the rest of them, but he wasn’t as invested in their games, didn’t play around as much with the others. It wasn’t that he was completely devoid of humor. He enjoyed some of their games and went along with playing tricks on Merlin and the other knights, but he just wasn’t as jovial as the rest of the group. 

Elyan didn’t mind being the least well-known of the knights. He wasn’t as honorable as Lancelot, as strong as Percival, as humorous as Gwaine, or as loyal as Leon and that was fine by him. He could slip into the background, serve without being known. His duty wasn’t to be known, after all. 

Lancelot’s sacrifice hit him hard, as it had hit all of the knights. How could someone so brave, so pure be taken from them in just a moment? Lancelot and Elyan had been close. Probably not as close as Lancelot was with the rest of the knights, but they had been friends. They all mourned his loss. 

The knight that seemed hit the hardest was Percival. The man was absolutely devastated by the loss of his friend, or maybe something more. Elyan didn’t think it was his place to speculate on the nature of the relationship between Percival and Lancelot, but he’d seen the way they’d looked at one another. It was similar to the way Elyan often stared after Percival, not that the other knight noticed. 

Elyan did his best to be there for Percival after the loss of Lancelot, had been his shoulder to cry on, his ear to vent to. Despite appearances, Elyan had no ulterior motives. He simply wished to be there for his friend. 

In fact, when a crying Percival took hold of Elyan’s sleeve and asked him to share his bed for the night, Elyan refused. He would not take advantage of someone so dear to him. He pressed a kiss to Percival’s head and promised to be there for him in the morning. 

Percival was pleased with Elyan the next morning, apologizing for his offer and assuring Elyan a proper courtship when his grieving process was over. Elyan wasn’t certain that Percival would ever fully cease in his grieving of Lancelot, but he was grateful for the offer. 

Things changed between Percival and Elyan after that. The two of them grew closer, always had each other’s backs. They were always the first one there for the other if he was in need. They loved each other. Elyan felt grateful to have Percival’s love, especially when the last person to have it had been someone as honorable as Lancelot. 

Elyan felt unworthy of Percival’s love, but when the stronger knight engulfed Elyan in his large arms, everything felt right with the world and Elyan couldn’t find it within himself to complain. Percival knew all of his secrets, all of his hopes and dreams, all of his doubts and feared. Elyan shared a part of his soul with Percival despite his fear of doing so with anyone else. 

Becoming a knight was never in Elyan’s plans. He was not of noble blood and knew full well that it wasn’t his place to dream above his station. He was destined to be a blacksmith, just like his father before him. What more could he ask for? 

He hadn’t even been there when his father had died. He’d set out in search of something,  _ anything  _ more that what he had been stuck with. He’d thought that maybe he could earn more than what he was destined to have. He had been wrong. Greatness only came when the already great decided to take pity on him. 

Elyan didn’t hate Arthur, in fact, he rather liked him. He was a good man who cared about his people. It was just that without him, Elyan would still have been a simple blacksmith. He hated relying on others and without Arthur’s help, he would have been nothing. 

But after Uther’s death, Arthur became a fair and just king. For the most part. Elyan didn’t trust magic any more than the king did, but after becoming possessed by the druid boy Arthur had apparently allowed to die, Elyan felt a bit differently. That boy was only a child, a sweet, harmless  _ child  _ who had been slaughtered in cold blood by Arthur’s men. Elyan never quite looked at Arthur the same way after that. 

However, Guinevere loved him. Guinevere was the most important person in Elyan’s life and so long as she loved Arthur, Elyan would defend and protect him. 

He would protect his sister until his dying day. 


End file.
